IEEE Twin Cities Section History

Brief History

In 1902, the AIEE formulated rules for the establishment of Sections and Student Branches outside of New York. At that time, a group of electrical engineers in the Twin Cities, including George Shepardson, Edward Burch, Frank Springer and Charles Pillsbury requested the institute to establish a Section in their area.

On April 7, 1902, a charter was issued for a Minnesota Section, covering the territory: part of Wisconsin, Minnesota and North and South Dakota. Dr. George Shepardson was the Chairman from 1902 to 1905. This was the second Section of the Institute, Chicago being the first.

The Twin Cities Section is old enough that it also has origins in the IRE. The Twin Cities Section of the IRE was established in 1941 with C.A. Culver as Chairman. The Territory of the Section was quite similar to the Minnesota Section of the AIEE.

When the AIEE and IRE merged in 1963, the Twin Cities Sections of the previously separate organizations did so as well. Thus the Twin Cities Section of the IRE and the Minnesota Section of the AIEE became the Twin Cities Section of the IEEE. Mr. Al Martin was the Chairman of the IRE Section and Mr. Don Peterson was the Chairman of the AIEE Section and by a flip of the coin Mr. Peterson became the first Chairman of the merged Sections. As of 1984, the membership was approximately 3,000.

The section maintains a list of its past officers, from 1902 to present, on its website.

Women in Engineering in the Twin Cities

In 1993, the Twin Cities Section commemorated women in engineering in the section. Below are pictures documenting the exhibit. 

Officer List

Year	Chair	Secretary
1904-1905	George D. Shepardson	E.P. Burch
1906	Edward P. Burch	Barry Dibble

Further Reading

Link to Section Homepage

IEEE Geographic Unit Organizing Document - Twin Cities 

IEEE_Geographic_Unit_Organizing_Document_-_Twin_Cities.pdf